Chico parents, educators talk about autism

CHICO &GT;&GT; Say the word "autism" and people will immediately conjure a range of images, but a group of educators and parents said the term simply describes children who are precious and deserve a chance to succeed.

Wednesday the Chico Unified School District board of trustees listened as Eric Snedeker, the district's director of special education, 11 of his special education staff, and two parents talk about what they do for and with the youngsters that live somewhere on the "Autism Disorder Spectrum."

Snedeker outlined federal definitions of what constitutes autism as far as the schools are concerned.

The teachers described with enthusiasm and passion what techniques and tools they used to serve and teach their "kiddoes."

But it was the parents who put a face on the reality.

Melanie Castello is the mother of four including a set of fraternal twins, Ben and his sister.

Ben has been in special ed since he first started school. Initially it was thought he had a "speech delay." Continuing observation revealed the boy had autism.

Castello said her son was blessed with extremely intensive, one on one work that lasted as much as nine hours a day when he was "a little guy."

The boy and his family dealt with school administrators who wanted to learn how best to serve Ben, and one other who "thought he knew more about autism than he did." Some teachers didn't know how to teach him but they wanted to learn.

By the time he had reached third grade he could neither read nor do math. Teachers at Neal Dow School helped turn the boy around. In two months he learned to read and had begun to work with math. The mother lamented that "nobody fits in in junior high," to which the room responded with laughter, but Bidwell Junior High School worked for Ben.

Costello, along with many of the teachers who spoke, stressed that an autistic person needed predictability in his life, and that having things happen as expected was comforting for the youngster.

The mother said during most of his education Ben had an aide at his side, but during the junior high years the aides weren't always there and some of them didn't seem prepared to be of any help.

Having trouble making social connections is one of the defining factors of autism.

Costello said at 14 her son is bright enough to be fully aware he doesn't always fit in.

"Everybody wants to fit in in high school," she said she hopes her son will find it easier to make those connections in high school.

She said he needs friends. He needs a "social group, true peers who want to be his friend."

"He is still glorious, beautiful and smart," said Ben's mother.

Don Dickenson has a 22-year-old son, who has autism and is "high functioning."

Currently his son is a student at Butte College where he is maintaining a 3.2 grade point average, and is doing well with the assistance of the college's disabled student services program.

Dickenson said his son is proof that on the community, state and national level the dollars going to assist autistic students "is money well spent."

Trustee Andrea Lerner Thompson, who was chairing the meeting because board President Kathy Kaiser was absent, asked what special education costs the district.

Dave Scott, assistant superintendent for education services, said special education programs are expensive to operate but they are mandated by both state and federal law.

Kevin Bultema, assistant superintendent for business services, said autism is not split out of the special education budget, but for the 2014-2015 academic year, the district is spending $18.7 million for special ed and of that about $10 million comes out of the district's general fund, while the rest comes from state and federal sources.

Snedeker said the district has 1,577 special education students out of a total enrollment of 11,766.

Of the special education students, 234 have been identified as individuals with autism.